The Tell-Tale Heart

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Transcript of The Tell-Tale Heart

The Tell-Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe

Presentation by Emery Reid and Sam Atzbach Conflict Plot Theme Characterization Setting, place and atmosphere Characters Tone and Mood Book Overview Point of View Significance Of Title The short story the Tell-Tale Heart is about a man who lives with his old landlord.The man loves the old man but continuously feels haunted by "His evil vulture eye" and felt threatened by it... so he decided to take care of it by killing the old man.He plans out his strategy and waits for right time to strike... He suffocates the old man and dismembers his body.Cops were warned by a neighbor of a shriek in the night and decided to investigate.The body was hidden under the floor boards but a noise sounding much like a heart beat kept ringing in the man's conscience, causing him to go mad and admit his deed to the police. The title of this story, "The Tell-Tale Heart" is describing the way the madman admitted his crime to the police. The heartbeat he heard (which was inaudible to the police) was a tell-tale sign, which made him go crazy, thus "The Tell-Tale Heart". The point of view is first person because the narrator uses "I","me", and "my". The point of view does not change in this story. Setting: This story took place in the bedroom of the old man's home.Time and Atmosphere: Takes place in the night time in the 1800's. The author made it feel as if there was death creeping in the air. Antagonist: The antagonist is the narrator's mind because it is so evil and is trying to justifies its wrongs. His mind started the fantasy about the "evil eye", and his mind was the one that felt remorse, causing him to hear a beating heart, eventually turning him into the police*The antagonist resembles a madman's hallucinating, sick and twisted mind, planted with evil thoughts.

Protagonist: The narrator is the protagonist. Even though he is not "good", he is the main character*The narrator is one in the same with the antagonist, but is the doer of it's deeds. Narrator- Round because he has many layers and traits and a deep personality, but he is also stock because he is the stereotype madmanOld Man- flat character because all we know about him is that he has a creepy eye and is killedPolice- flat characters because we only know one thing about them...they're police Internal- in this story, the man's conscience is fighting with himself because he killed the old manExternal- murder is obviously frowned upon, so society is against the narrator, which is external conflictMAN VS SELF-knew what he did what wrong, tried to justify his actionsMAN VS SOCIETY- the police represent society in this story because the narrator believes they are mocking him and know what he did when he hears the"heartbeat" MAN VS MAN- the narrator kills the old man, which is conflict between them, man vs man Exposition- The narrator's madness is introduced, the old man is introducedInciting Incident- the narrator talks about his plan to get rid of the "evil eye"Rising Action-The man looks at the old man for the first night-The man looks at the old man for the second night-The man looks at the old man for the third night, and sees the evil eye is openClimax-The man kills the old man, dismembers, and hides the bodyFalling Action-The police arrive-The man shows the police to the murder scene, very confident-Starts hearing the "heartbeat"Resolution-narrator starts going crazy in front of policeDenouement-The narrator admits his deed No matter what you tell yourself and no matter how much evidence you give to support a wrongdoing, your conscience will catch up with you and justice will be served in due time.

*This is not just a story about a grizzly murder, but an example that you can's hide from your sense of right and wrong and morale Tone: The author makes this story suspenseful by using very eerie words. Mood: We felt scared in the first few paragraphs and then towards the end we felt disgusted due to the actions of the madman. http://www.shmoop.com/tell-tale-heart/teaching.htm

Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Tell-Tale Heart." Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Philadelphia: Franklin Library, 1979. 179-185. Print. The Franklin Library of Mystery Masterpieces. Citations Figurative Language Characterization Indirect 1. “And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the sense? --now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.” -Edgar Allan Poe2. “Now this is the point. You fancy me a mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded...” -Edgar Allan Poe

Direct 1. “It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture –a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees – very gradually –I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.” -Edgar Allan Poe2. "the vulture eye...all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it"- Edgar Allan Poe*What do we know?We know that through the indirect that the narrator is mad. Also, the murdered man is old with a creepy eye with a cataract (through direct) *How do we know it? In the indirect, we infer it from what the narrator says and in the direct the narrator gives us a description of the old man. Book Review In our opinion, this story has no weaknesses and is very well written and suspenseful. We would recommend this to an older audience interested in horror and suspense novels. This would be inappropriate to younger audiences because there is advanced vocabulary and writing technique. In addition, it is somewhat graphic because there is dismemberment and murder, "it increased my fury as the beating of a drum stimulates the solder into courage"- Simile"I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him." -Foreshadowing (very direct foreshadowing)Situational Irony- claims himself to be completely sane and healthy when he is crazy and insaneSymbols- the noise of the beating heart is the man's conscience because it is reminding him of his horrible deed and making him feel remorse, just like a conscienceVisual Imagery- "He had the eye of a vulture- a pale blue eye, with a film over it" *all the figurative just added to the suspense and the sickness of the storyThere was one stereotype, the crazy narrator. He is the stereotype madman. Doesn't think he is crazy and does absurd things.